September 11 Memorials, Past and Present

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

The September 11 2001 attacks are one of those few events in history in which people remember where they were when they heard the news. Like Pearl Harbor decades ago, it led to war. And thanks to the Internet, many many thousands shared images and personal stories. Second Life wasn't around yet when 9/11 happened. But once it was, memorials and other tributes began appearing very early in it's history as soon as 2004 (New World Notes article). 

Over time there have been a number of 9/11 memorials. One of the largest and best known was the one a quarter-sim in size by Alliez Mysterio. It was up for only two or three years, but it was well-attended.

(Click here if the video fails to load)

 Another one that got attention was the memorial at the New York City Block sim. Owner and creator Cheri Bing was from Brooklin New York City, and 9/11 had been very much up close and personal. A firefighter group would hold an event there to honor the fallen. Alliez's memorial would last until about 2009. The New York City Block memorial would stay up until the sim closed in early 2011. 

Areo Pines Park had a "Stairclimb Tribute" in honor of the fallen firefighters. Cindy Bolero would have it up each September for several years. These were two transparent towers in which one could get and wear a free fireman's uniform and climb the 110 stories to the top.

Stagg Island had a well-done marble memorial with plenty of detail, such as the two square waterfall fountains meant to represent the Twin Towers. On Sept 11 itself, people would gather for remembrance events. 

The Stairclimb would be up each November for several years until the shrinking size of Aero Pines park eventually meant there wasn't enough room and the park would eventually close in 2018. 

Also in 2018, the Stagg Island memorial would move to the Yellow River sim after the death of it's builder Fazio Magic. Geena Zackerly would keep it running for a couple more years, but 2020 would be it's last year.

Currently the largest detailed memorial in Second Life is the replica of the real-life Flight 93 Memorial, over Copperhead Road, which was made last year in 2020. Owned by Paul Woodrunner, the main part is the "Tower of Voices," a 93 foot metal structure with 40 wind chimes. 

But since last year, more work has been done on the place. The memorial has doubled in size to include the marble "Wall of Names," of which an event was held at the one in real life on September 11. There's also the visitor shelter and a replica of the gate to the crash site.

One other memorial was "Always Remember" which this year was in Gold Haven. Dropping by on September 11, I ran into the owner Bryston Vanvleck. "I appreciate you visiting all these years," he would tell the people there. Asking when the memorial first came about, he told me, "Well, I started building my NY lofts back in 2007, I believe it was 2008 or 2009 when I first held a memorial in the store. (The) following year, I started building this and it has evolved over the years. ... I have thought about replicating the real-life New York memorial many times. But people do appreciate the intimate simplicity of this one."

When it was brought up just about everyone could tell where they were when they first heard about 9/11, Bryston responded, "That is what this place is for, to reflect and share your stories. I meet so many good people with heartbreaking stories they share. But anyone who was alive will tell you exactly where they were that day. I visited ground zero 3 weeks after it happen and it had a profound effect on me."

Among the stories was, "I was riding the bus down 16th street to go to work when dozens of fire and police cars zoomed past us. The bus was full and everyone's phones started to buzz. That's when I heard someone flew a plane into the Pentagon. The father of a friend was on that plane. What was scary was not knowing what would happen next. Rumors circulated vans were filled with explosives, etc. Surreal indeed."

As this year marked the 20th anniversary of the attacks, it's noteable that Second Life not only has residents whom were young children when they happened, but is getting residents whom hadn't been born yet. Plus some older residents whom were around when it was just a few years before have passed on or otherwise no longer able to get online. The event is transitioning from recent history that practically everyone witnessed to history that more and more people never saw for themselves but know only from recorded media. And of course from memorials, both in real life, and in Second Life.

Video source: Hamlet Au

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Reaching Out and Remembrance

 
By Fritter Enzyme,

Depression is inevitable.

With things the way they are now it truly is. All of us are effected. I see so many online seeking friends to talk with. So many want to help, real problems require real assistance. I must state at the start, seek professional help. Below I will list some resources. They will lead to others. Depression comes to us all but not en masse and for this long. Other than wars we haven't dealt with times like these. There is much help is online, but as we recoup our lives we can again meet face to face. I hate to even mention the loss of pets during this time.

Holidays have been disturbed, traditions dropped, loved ones separated. Not like there isn't plenty of craziness other than the virus. We will want to have the past back, but things will not be the same.

Hot lines are a good way to seek help, if not in person. They can give you resources to fit your life and needs. But again, trained professional workers.

Some have told me they have no insurance. When I was without insurance I went through my county health department. Call 411 for First Call for Help. They can lead you to agencies to work with. Call 911 if it is an emergency!

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-8255

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Survivors of Suicide in Second Life

SOS - Survivors Of Suicide, Legenda (46, 58, 22) - Moderate

https://www.survivorsofsuicidesl.org/

Veteran suicide prevention

To connect with a Veterans Crisis Line responder anytime day or night:

• Call 800-273-8255, then select 1.

• Start a confidential chat.

• Text 838255.

• If you have hearing loss, call TTY: 800-799-4889.

https://www.va.gov/health-care/health-needs-conditions/mental-health/suicide-prevention/

There are places in Second Life to grieve and set up memorials:

Linden Memorial Park Candle Beach, San Michele (76, 152, 20) – General

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/San%20Michele/77/152/21

CARTHAGE MEMORIAL, Carthage (51, 149, 46) – Moderate

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Carthage/51/149/47

Living Memories Memorial Garden, The Sardar (6, 101, 21) - Moderate

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Sardar/6/101/21

Fritter Enzyme

Reader Submitted: Mourning in Second Life

By Alura Messing
 

Death.  We can't escape it in our first lives or our second.  If you have been in any type of gaming community, you know how close an emotional bond you can build with people.  You talk to them almost everyday.  You hear about their families, their problems, and their successes.  You often know them better than most of their families do.  But once in awhile, you log in to get the news that something terrible has happened.  One of your friends has passed away.

In my years of gaming it has happened more than once.  One was very ill and just never came back.  I can only assume that they passed on and their family didn't know how, or felt no need to tell their gaming friends.  One was very young and died suddenly in a house fire with his mother.  I was lucky a real life friend was able to pass on the sad news.  Which brings me to my current gaming experience in Second Life.

I am part of a family here.  We all live on the same land and see each-other daily.  We go shopping together, attend special events the someone is in, and just talk about life.  I logged in the other day, to find out that one of my family had passed away.  Even as I write, we are still waiting to learn the cause.  He was young and no one saw this coming.  We were all devastated and needed to find a way to mourn.

I believe many people in Second Life are faced with this.  They don't know what to do, or how to honor the memory of someone they cared for.  For many years, the Lindens themselves hosted a memorial garden that you could go to and have the name of a resident who passed away added to.  Sadly in July of 2011 they stopped accepting names to add to the memorial, though you can still visit and see existing memorials.   

Residents now have to devise their own ways to memorialize their friends.  We can't rely on the Lindens to have a common in world place as a memorial.  Over the years I have see many ways that people have attempted to find their peace and remember the light and life of a lost soul.  In my early days I happened on a small shrine on the main grid.  It gave me a texture when I clicked it and lit a candle for a time.  On that texture, was the following poem.

     An Uncertain Memorial

     By: Calliandris Pendragon

     Beyond time and space

     I met a fellow traveller

     And we journeyed for awhile.

     Then, I lost sight of them.

     I cannot tell where they have gone,

     Wether they vanished back

     Into the throng of life,

     Or slipped across the threshold

     Into another world,

     Turning from time, to eternity.

     All I can say with certainty

     Is that there is a place in my heart

     Into which that other fits

     Which is empty now.

A beautiful expression of coming to terms with the loss of someone close.

We don't always know how to express what is inside and some people simply place a picture in their profile with a few words about the person. Others, like Noel (Ixinoel) have building skills and build something in world to spread the memory of their lost friend.  Noel owner of Dust Bunny, built a Memorial Garden with her friend Amy's (Scarlet Chandrayaan) favorite things.  She gives it out for free to anyone who comes to her store.  In doing that, her memory is shared by many who display the item in their personal space.

But if you and others would like to gather someplace and take time to remember them in a more "Earthly" way, there is Living Memories Memorial Garden.  There you can dedicate a tree to your missing loved ones.  There is no cost to do so, but donations are welcomed to help cover the cost of the land.  It is a beautiful location that you can visit and and hold a memorial service on your own or with others.

We may not be able to just ignore the grief of losing someone in Second Life, but as you can see there are many ways to honor a memory.  Be sure to take a moment to visit the memorials to remember someone you might have lost here or to pay respects to the others who have come and gone that you may not know.  We each contribute to this wonderful verse and when even one of us passes away it is a loss to the community.  Safe and healthy paths to each of you.

Shrine of Remembrance, Linden Memorial Park (146, 88, 7)

Living Memories Memorial Garden, The Sardar (6, 101, 21)

Dust Bunny New Mainstore!, Dust Bunny (118, 200, 16)

Alura Messing

Remembering Artistic Fimicloud

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cancer is a deadly disease. According to Wikipedia, almost nine million people a year around the world die from it. Striking down men and women, rich and poor, men and women, young and old, it takes away many individuals in the prime of their lives, leaving behind saddened family and friends. In Second Life, while avatars do not get cancer, the people behind them do. For the Relay for Life in Second Life, it's mission is to raise funds for research for cures and treatments has brought thousands to take part, from it's most active participants to those just stopping by to make a small donation. Sadly, along the way some of the Relayers have passed on. Catt Gable, Shady Fox, Alliez Mysterio and others would not survive their personal fight with the illness.

For the Sunweaver community and the Passionate Redheads RFL team in their early days, among their numbers was Artistic Fimicloud. In Second Life, she was known for her pink fox avatar. In real life she was Stephanie Koslow, an artist who did a number of pictures. Sadly, she also suffered from cancer, a struggle that had gone on for years. On May 26, 2008, the woman behind the little pink fox passed away at age 49, a sad day for both the Sunweaver community and it's team, and for the Relay.  Some days later, there was a memorial service in the Colorado sim. One artwork of her made since showed Stephanie's spirit rising from her body as her pink vixen avatar. "I Relay for Fimi" became a title seen on a number of the Redheads and others. Fimi's treehouse continues to remain up at the Sunweaver Estates at Sunweaver Bay (179/155/33).

Since her passing, every year there has been an event of some kind in her honor. The following year there was a candlelight vigil, of which Ishtarkiss took a number of pictures of, as well as a "Blowout" event featuring art and screenshots. Beginning in 2010 (more pictures by Ishtarkiss), there have been memorial dances in Fimi's honor. This year was no exception, with the Happy Vixen and Club Cutlass running events on the week of her passing nine years before.

The Happy Vixen's event was at Tuesday May 23 6PM, with DJ Tantari at the booth. Several people wore pink outfits or pink avatars in Fimi's honor. Tantari had made a "Pink Fox" track just for these events, "The search for a cure goes on in her memory. Never give up! Never give in!" The track was a combination of fox-themed and other tunes, but ended with a somewhat sad song, "Goodbye" by Ulrich Schnauss. "After every journey, one has to say goodbye," Tantari concluded the track.

Club Cutlass would hold the larger of the two events on Friday May 26, the ninth anniversary of Fimi's departure. The event was also at 6PM. Sabine McGettigan, the longtime leader of the Passionate Redheads team, was among those at the tribute. Also there was Sunbeamer team captain Rita Mariner, Dusk Griswold, and Shockwave Yareach whom also knew Fimi. Once again, many showed up in pink avatars, pink outfits, or both. On the wall was a picture of Fimi, and on the floor one of the pink fox statuettes that represent her.

In the nine years since Fimi left us, much has changed with both the Relay and the community and team she was part of. Some have left, and others who never had the chance to know her, including myself, have come in. The Passionate Redheads team would fold and become a part of Relay history as a top-ranking team to the end, it's members of the Sunweaver community forming a new team: the Sunbeamers.

People continue to suffer and die from cancer. And there have been a few conspiracy theorists whom wonder if there is some kind of plot behind the scenes by the powerful of Capitalist and Communist and Islamist lands to keep a cure from ever being found, or that a cure has been found but the medical community is so fearful of quackery it will not accept anything more than strictly conventional medicine. But most of us realize the struggle to cure cancer is a more difficult one than getting to the moon. With that, we knew where to go and it was a matter of building a big enough rocket with the means to get a team there safely and back. Finding a cure for cancer has proven more difficult as it's not just one but a multitude of diseases with a multitude of causes. But every fundraising event, every dollar donated, whether to the Relay for Life or a number of other reputable charities such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, brings us closer to a day when a cure for the last form of cancer has been found.

In the meantime, in and out of Second Life, people will continue to help, with time, money, and in my case a pen.

"We shall remember,"

Source: IshtarKiss Flickr page 

Bixyl Shuftan

Peace Valley Pet Cemetery

By Deaflegacy Darkbloom

The final resting place for pets. That's what Peace Valley Pet Cemetery is all about. It welcomes pet owners with open arms.  Anyone who comes by the pet cemetery would surely be overtaken by the pure beauty of it.  The pet cemetery gives pet owners many options to choose from when it comes to saying good bye to their beloved pets.

When I first got to the Peace Valley Pet Cemetery, I was taken back by the beauty of it.  One of the thoughts that came was, "Wow, this is what we need - a beautiful pet cemetery".  It's not just the beauty of it, it's also that the pet cemetery welcomes people with open arms.  They also have a church. Flowers and trees are everywhere, helping to beautify the grounds.  Even the church stood out because of the natural beauty. So if anyone who loses a pet wants to find the right pet cemetery, I would recommend the Peace Valley because of its beauty.

I can think of only a few words to describe it.  I can assure you that none of them are bad.  When I went to the Peace Valley Pet Cemetery, the thought was, "If I have a pet, and it passes, I would like to come to this pet cemetery to remember."  I don't say that too often because I'd like this to have a real reason to serve. 

Peace Valley Cemetery is an ideal place for owners to come and say farewell to their beloved late companions.  When I was there, the beauty was overwhelming.  I would have recommended this place to anyone who lost their pets.  For them, this is indeed the place to be; an ideal resting place for departed pets.

Peace Valley (137, 59, 54)

Deaflegacy Darkbloom